Pouncing Secrets
by DarkJaina
Summary: [Edited] I'm not quite sure where I was going with this ... Cassie ponders on Jake. Review if you read, please.


My name is Cassie.  
I sat on the bleachers, watching him play. He was a work of art, dribbling, twirling, running, his short brown hair streaming away from his face.  
His name is Jake.  
It was a pity he didn't make the team. He sure had the skills for it. He was bummed, for awhile. But then we had more important things to do, like saving the world, and it faded to the back of his mind.  
Today was one of those rare ones. No missions, and a perfect day. Just cool enough to remind you that winter wasn't gone, but warm enough to affirm that summer was on its way. Jake was playing basketball with his best friend, Marco, and Tobias, who had morphed human. Ax had been playing with them, for awhile, but finally got  
too confused and tried eating the net after he made a slam dunk.  
Some of Jake's non-Animorph friends were playing, too. It's a wonder how I think of the world now. There's us Animorphs, known Controllers, and everyone else. Like my parents.  
Rachel and some of her friends were on the bleachers with me. I listened with one ear as they gossiped about the guys on the court. When one girl brought up Tobias, Rachel carefully shifted the subject away.  
Sometimes I wonder what Rachel must go through. I can guess, but I can never get inside her head and heart. So, I try to imagine Jake as a hawk. Talons, beak, feathers. Then I look at him, his brown eyes, and I thank the Lord he's human.  
I instandly felt guiltly, but there was no time to contemplate it. Rachel grabbed my hand, unaware of my traitorous thoughts.  
"Come on, Cass!" she winked. "We're going to cheer our guys  
on."  
My eyes widened in horror. "Rachel, no! I can't cheer!" But I was already pulled down the rows, and suddenly I was standing right by the court.  
Boom, boom, boom! Tobias stole the ball and tossed it to Marco. One of the other guys was coming towards him. Marco stood there, looking like he didn't know what to do. Then, whoosh! He quickly passed the ball to Jake.  
No one could catch him. He was going to make it!  
Boom, boom, boom! Suddenly the world was going in slow motion. And all that mattered was Jake, that ball, and the net.  
Something was wrong. There was too much power behind the dribbles. His hand ...  
It was turning into a tiger's paw!  
I couldn't move. Jake didn't see, he was so focused on the net and the other players. But Tobias did.  
Bang!  
Tobias had been running, and he 'tripped' into Jake, knocking them both down. Marco, Ax, and Rachel ran to them, and I wanted to go help ... but all I could do was stare at Jake's hand.  
Something rolled into my leg. I looked down. The ball had bounced away and stopped by my feet.  
There were slight indents from tiger claws on the ball.  
Slowly, I looked back up at Jake. Our eyes met, and in that moment, I *knew*.  
I knew as I had known those days when the Drode had taken us back. When everything had changed, and I had died, but continued living. I *knew*.  
Jake's hand, his *paw* was from another universe.  
Another timeline. One where he was a nothlit, trapped as a tiger forever. I shivered, and looked away. It seemed more than a conincedence that I had been thinking about how I would react if Jake were a nothlit like Tobias.  
Two days later, we ran into each other in the cafeteria.  
"Hi," I said.  
"Cassie, what happened that day?" he looked worried. God, I hated to see those handsome eyes of his look like that. "Ax has no clue what it was about. When you looked at me ... I just got this feeling you knew."  
I wanted so badly to tell him! I could see the experience was affecting him strongly. But the Ellimist had told me I could never tell any of them what had happened, and I couldn't explain without getting into that story.  
"Jake, I ..." I looked away. "I have to go." I quickly ran out of the room, so I wouldn't have to see Jake's confused and hurt expression.  
I don't know who let me see that glimspe. I don't even know why. All it did was hurt Jake. Sometimes I really hate meddlers. But what can you do?  
Sometimes you have to keep secrets from the ones you love, even if it hurts you or them. I know. I keep secrets from my parents every day. It's for their safety, I tell myself. Jake will forget this in time. It's not that big a deal.  
But the secret is always there. You know it's always there.  
Waiting to be set free, like a tiger from its cage ...  



End file.
